Ezreal gently scratched Yuumi's chin, and the cat purred contentedly: "I'm thinking, why don't the five of us form a permanent team? We can take on missions together and look out for each other."
"A permanent team?" Marcus sat up abruptly, nearly knocking over the table. "Wow! Does that mean we'll be permanent partners from now on?"
Ikaruga put down her blade, a slight smile playing on her lips: "Sounds good."
Cana 'clapped' her tarot cards shut, her smile radiant: "I agree!"
Yukino's fingers tightened slightly around her teacup, a faint blush rising on her cheeks: "I... I'm willing too!"
Yuumi jumped down from Ezreal's lap and gracefully walked to the center of the table: "Meow~ Then this cat will be the team's mascot~"
"Hahaha!" Marcus laughed loudly. "How about we call our team 'The Cat and Four Minions'?"
"Rejected," Ikaruga said succinctly.
"I think'Star Team' is good," Cana suggested. "It has Yukino's Celestial Spirits and Ezreal's Light Magic."
"Too artistic!" Marcus protested. "If we're going to name it, let's call it 'gold sand Overlords'!"
Yukino whispered: "Um... I think something simple is fine..."
Ezreal looked at his bickering companions, a warm smile in his eyes: "We can think about the name later. The important thing is that we've decided to work together, right?"
"Let's celebrate!" Marcus suddenly stood up, raising his hands. "I'll go get some drinks!"
"Hey!" Cana grabbed his collar. "It's only three in the afternoon, why are you drinking?"
"Then juice!" Marcus grinned, changing his mind. "We still have to celebrate!"
Marcus ran to the bar and brought back several glasses of juice. As the five of them raised their cups, Natsu's head popped out from the side: "Huh? What are you celebrating?"
"Ezreal suggested that the five of us form a permanent team," Cana said proudly, shaking her cup. "From now on, we'll be the strongest partners!"
"Strongest?" Gray, who had appeared at some point, asked, holding half a cake. "You guys?"
"Hey, hey, Gray," Marcus said, hands on his hips. "We have three S-Class Mages holding down the fort!"
"Three S-Class?" Erza also walked over at the mention, examining them with interest. "Ezreal, Cana, Ikaruga... Indeed, this lineup is very strong."
"Although Marcus didn't pass the S-Class examination, his gold sand Magic and elementalization are already very close to S-Class level," Ezreal added.
"And Yukino!" Cana threw an arm around Yukino's shoulder. "She's a Celestial Spirit Mage who can summon two Zodiac Celestial Spirits at the same time, her power is really strong!"
...Fairy Tail Guild · Evening
"Cheers!"
The five's juice cups clinked together, juice splashing with crystal-clear droplets.
Yuumi took the opportunity to dip her paw into Marcus's cup for a stealthy sip, only to be caught red-handed by Marcus.
"Hey! You greedy cat!" Marcus grabbed Yuumi by the scruff of her neck, but the cat deftly twisted free, landing lightly on Ezreal's shoulder, then proudly licked her paw.
"Meow~ You don't like orange juice anyway~" Yuumi squinted, her tail wagging happily.
"You little..." Marcus was about to tickle her when he suddenly noticed Ezreal pulling a gold-edged envelope from his pocket, bearing the Magic Council's emblem.
He was immediately drawn to it. "Huh? Ezreal, what's that?"
Ezreal gently opened the envelope: "A confidential letter from a friend."
"I asked a friend to investigate the Evil Flower and the Dark Guilds associated with it, and I just received a reply a while ago."
Cana immediately leaned in: "You're still investigating the disappearances?"
Ezreal nodded: "That's right. The letter says that the Evil Flower is a subsidiary organization of the Dark Guild Eisenwald. They're abducting people to sacrifice them to the curse-singing demon Lullaby."
"I suspect that Jupiter's appearance was likely them taking advantage of the chaos. They were afraid of being exposed, so they didn't abduct ordinary people themselves. Instead, they either posed as human traffickers or directly snatched the ordinary people these groups had abducted. We just happened to stumble upon them."
Cana raised an eyebrow. "Leaving aside the Moon Demon's group for now, are you saying we're going to face another demon that uses curse-songs?"
Ezreal nodded affirmatively. "That's right. However, according to what I've learned, Lullaby is a demon created from Zeref's book. I've researched ancient texts about the Moon Demon, and it's an ancient demon recorded in history. In comparison, the artificial demon Lullaby should be easier to deal with."
"Lullaby?" Ikaruga paused in wiping her long blade, frowning slightly. "That's a curse demon from our local legends."
Yukino weakly raised her hand: "I... I heard about this demon during my travels. It's said that its song can make people die in extreme pain, it's a very ancient curse Magic."
Marcus whistled, gold sand flowing through his fingertips, condensing into the shape of a small demon: "Wow, it looks like we really have a connection with demons! Ezreal, when do we leave?"
Ezreal continued reading the letter: "They quieted down for a while because of the Council's strict investigation. But now, they're active again at Hargeon Port."
"Hargeon?" Cana raised an eyebrow, her tarot cards unconsciously flipping. "Isn't that..."
Ikaruga finished her sentence, "My hometown."
Ezreal put the letter away and looked at everyone. "Hargeon isn't far. We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning."
Ikaruga had already stood up, her long blade sliding into its sheath with a crisp 'click': "I'll go prepare some antidotes. The curse-song might be poisonous."
Her gaze swept over everyone. "You all better make some preparations too."
Yukino also stood up and said softly: "I... I'll go to the library to look up Lullaby's weaknesses."
Marcus stretched, gold sand swirling around him: "Then I'll go back and get a good night's sleep to recharge! Ezreal, can your Evil Wolf carry five people?"
Ezreal nodded: "Yes, and I have the coordinates, so teleporting there isn't a problem either."
...Meanwhile · Other side of the Guild Hall
"Hey, Gray!" Natsu stomped on a table, making several empty wine glasses clatter. "Dare to see who can finish this barrel of wine first?"
Gray sneered, a small ice crystal forming on his fingertip, lightly tapping the rim of his glass: "You? Who was it that crawled under the table halfway through last time?"
"That was me letting you win!" Natsu's fists were already sparking with fire. "This time I'm definitely going to—"
His words were suddenly interrupted as a sweating Guild member rushed over: "Natsu! I just heard from a passing merchant that a fire dragon has appeared at Hargeon Port!"
"What?!" Natsu exploded instantly, flames uncontrollably erupting from his entire body, pushing back the surrounding tables and chairs by several inches with the heatwave. "A fire dragon? Is it Igneel?"
"No, not sure..." The newcomer was startled by Natsu's reaction. "Just heard there was a fire dragon..."
Natsu had already grabbed Happy, who was secretly eating dried fish: "Happy! Let's go!"
"Aye!" Happy quickly spread his wings, the white wings perfectly merging with Natsu's flames, and the two instantly completed their fusion.
Flames suddenly ignited Happy's wings.
"Hey! Natsu!" Erza tried to stop him, but Natsu had already 'boomed' through the door and rushed out, leaving only a trail of wood chips and burning footprints.
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